Cool
by Hanae da Firefly
Summary: The rain holds many things deep inside, and Goku can't help but wonder why no one else sees it the way he does. ONESHOT. Rated for language. Sanzo's language, actually.


**Cool**

There is an odd excitement you feel once you overstep a certain barrier. A type of rush that makes you feel numb, almost detached from your body. He felt this high as he dropped the staff to his side, allowing the rain to wash away the crimson that stained his skin. He rubbed an area by the corner of his mouth. That bastard managed to give him a good bruise.

It felt raw and hot, but the cool rain was washing away the blood that seeped from the injury. Eyeing his surroundings, he didn't move his body, allowing only his head to turn to glance behind his shoulder at the idiotic youkai who thought that it would be strong enough to overpower him.

He spat out the excess blood. He shivered involuntarily, exhaling sharply, thinking that it really is cold.

"Hey, monkey, get outta the rain," was a gruff call that rang through the silence of the valley.

He turned to look at a redhead who was leaning lazily against a wall in a rundown building, his face contorted to a slight degree of irritation. They were seeking shelter within ruins that were buried beneath vegetation and rubble. The attack a few minutes back didn't help the crumbling state of these museum pieces.

"Ya just gonna stand there or what? Stupid monkey-runt. . ." growled the redhead with some sort of annoyed amusement, as if glad to be able to distract himself from some sort of bothersome situation.

Attempting to come up with some sort of witty retort, he suddenly felt too tired to and gave up, muttering loudly, "Bah." A red brow arched inelegantly, disappointed that the young boy had turned down the chance to a good fight. Gojyo threw his hands down, burying them in his pockets, snorting dismissively. He trudged into the building, away from the rain.

He looked at the fallen statue of some sort of religious figure. Its head was split from its body and held in place by some overgrown vines. A large crack had split across its face, but it was still smiling. Almost obscenely, it seemed.

"What're you laughing at?" he accused quietly. He felt a sudden urge to smash the relic to pieces, but again felt a little too tired to and just stood there as his clothes sagged down, drenched with the rain.

There was a quick movement. He would've missed it if he blinked, but he managed to catch it in time. Swiftly swinging his staff horizontally, he managed to ram it in the middle of a wounded youkai, thanks to the right timing. Coughing blood, it stumbled and fell on its back. Taking the opportunity, he jumped up, bringing the staff high above his head. As he lunged down, the youkai rolled out of the way but not in time, its left arm caught in the attack.

Howling for all it was worth, the youkai cradled its broken arm in one hand as it clumsily sprinted across the ruins. He stood, looking up to come face to face with the smiling statue. His blood began to bubble as he felt the annoyance rage within him.

He wanted to smash it square in the nose.

Pissed, he merely let out a leg, effectively tripping the youkai. Mid-fall, he packed all his power into his right fist, releasing all of it as the attack connected with its cheekbone. In a split second, it was thrown against a high cliff, creating a large dent within the wall before it fell onto a messy heap upon the bloody youkai aforementioned.

He still felt pissed.

"Nyoibou, EXTEND!"

The staff launched itself towards the ancient head, sweeping through the valley, causing it echo with the sound of a loud, destructive impact as it brought the Buddha's head down onto the youkais, causing it to crush into a million pieces.

The youkai, effectively dead, and the head, effectively nonexistent, blended in with the rubble perfectly. He felt satisfied, invincible, unbeatable; as if he could take on the entire _world_.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

His insides deflated immediately. Puffing his cheeks childishly, he turned to face a whirl of blonde who was glaring at him, _daring_ him to say a single word in retaliation in order to destroy whatever peace left that the empty ruins could offer.

He was always scared shitless, but he never really looked into the meanings of Sanzo's look.

"Whaaaaat? I killed them, didn't I?"

"I'll fucking _kill you_ if you don't _shut the fuck up_," Sanzo growled, eyes narrowing dangerously. He swallowed nervously, managing a dumb nod. The adrenaline depleted, he trudged into the building accepting a towel from Hakkai who stood where Sanzo was before the monk stormed back inside.

"Why's everyone so pissed?" he asked crossly. Hakkai gave him a thin smile. "You don't seem too level-headed yourself, Goku," he offered kindly. The boy looked up sheepishly at him. "Yeah, um, well, _I'm_ pissed since everyone's on my case. Geez, why's everyone taking it out on _me_?"

Hakkai chuckled weakly, patting his back. They went inside, by the fire. The flames crackled merrily, as if completely oblivious to the pouring rain outside. Gojyo was sitting on a window sill, peering out at the grey scenery. Sanzo was in a corner attempting to light one of his Marlboro's. Cursing angrily as the lighter failed to work repeatedly, he threw it with vehemence against the cold stone floor.

Pausing a moment, listening to only the gentle patter of the falling rain, he held the towel in his hair with his left hand as he bent down and retrieved the lighter with his other hand. Holding it out for the monk, the blond slapped it away roughly.

Quietly, he picked it up again and set it on a small stone stand in front of Sanzo and walked off as he undid his shirt. The monk snarled. He did NOT like guilt trips, fucking monkey. The idiot could screw himself to hell for all he cared.

A few hours passed by in the same unsettling silence.

The wind blew harshly throughout the valley, often causing him to shiver involuntarily. There was an uninterrupted clicking as Gojyo attempted to make his own lighter work. As he reached the peak of his patience, a loud instance of thunder and lightning cut through the eerie valley, causing him to jump a little.

Growling, hissing, taunts, all off them resounded in discord as they echoed noisily, causing Sanzo's temper to flare a few notches higher. Eager to reclaim his long-sought peace, he shot up and strode to the entrance of the building.

"Look! It's the Sanzo!"

"Let's get 'im!"

"YA PISSY SHITHEADS WANNA SHUT YOUR BLOODY HOLES OR YOU WANT ME TA FILL IT WITH SOME GUNPOWDER HUH, YA ASSHOLES! SHUT THE **FUCK** UP!"

And as the blood dripped down towards the earth at an excruciatingly slow pace, the last of the attackers fell with the final blow.

"Whoa, Sanzo, that was seriously scary. . . You always do that in a bad mood?"

He looked at the monk with observant eyes, looked with some sort of mindless anticipation as the rush from before began to ebb away. His keeper, with some sort of unsatisfied anger, recalled his scripture swiftly, annoyed.

". . . Hey Sanzo, why d'you hate the rain so much?"

The blond monk gave him a cold and hard look. There was nothing else but an earnest longing that met him, though. He wasn't asking to admonish or judge, and he realized this truly.

Sanzo's breath hitched as he opened his mouth to answer.

". . . What do _you_ make of the rain, Goku?"

He was silent for a moment and thought about the clean liquid that dripped from the sky. The rain was washing away the blood and the pain, the rain was replenishing the dying soil, the rain that was purifying the tainted, the rain was filling in the emptiness, the rain was nursing the scars and the hatred.

The rain cleansed the earth, and wiped away sin.

The rain helped ease his -- Goku's -- loneliness so long ago.

The rain that echoed gently throughout the cell deep within Mount Gogyo and made the tired child feel more alive.

"I think that it's cool, actually."

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I understand that it's about time. Anyways, I like the rain very much and I believe that Goku is mature and not 5 years old, like everyone else seems to portray him. So yeah. I hope that I can one day be good enough to make the Japanese version 'Suzushii' exist. And it's cool in referance to temperature, ya? BTW I hate ffnet. 


End file.
